Much Ado About Nothing at the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern

The intertwining of lighthearted and somber plotlines in Much Ado About Nothing makes the play more complex than its designation as a comedy suggests. A production
of the play is responsible not only for communicating several series of witty interchanges
in a manner that resonates with modern audiences, but also for portraying characters
with realistic attributes and emotional depth beyond their ostensible comic roles.
The relaxed atmosphere of the Shakespeare Tavern encouraged audience engagement in
the mixture of exaggerated comedy and sincere emotional displays conveyed by the actors.
The introduction and development of the characters, as well as the delineation between
comical and serious moments, were largely accomplished through manipulations of sound
in various forms.

Several of the actors’ voices were particularly suited to their roles and were useful
in conveying aspects of their characters. Perhaps the most effective characterization
through sound was that of Beatrice, portrayed by Laura Cole, whose husky voice provided
an apt vehicle for the delivery of her frequent quips and sharply contrasted the conventional
femininity of Nedra Snipes’ sighing Hero. Cole’s lower voice reflected some of the
traditionally masculine attributes applied to Beatrice, such as her aggression toward
Benedict, named Benedick in this production and portrayed by Matt Nitchie, and her
desire for independence from a spouse, “for the which blessing [she is] at him on
[her] knees every morning and evening”. Changes in Cole’s inflection provided depth
to Beatrice’s character and illustrated her emotional development. Cole softened her
voice and slowed her delivery to express sincerity in Beatrice’s promise to “requite
[Benedick], / Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand”. This surprising shift in Cole’s
voice led the usually lively audience to respond to Beatrice’s speech with a moment
of silence rather than with the raucous applause given to Benedick’s earlier admission
of love for Beatrice.

The use of sound to convey attributes of the characters and events of the plot was
not limited to the actors’ styles of delivering dialogue and speeches. Wordless sounds,
music, and audible reactions of the audience all contributed to the understanding
and emotional impact of certain scenes. Although relatively few lines are assigned
to Hero, Nedra Snipes was able to effectively communicate her character’s devotion
to her beloved with an exaggerated sigh at the first mention of the “young Florentine
called Claudio”. Snipes’s repeated sighs contributed to the comedy of the first scene,
but also established Hero’s innocence and fidelity before Borachio and Don John introduced
their scheme to defame her. Claudio was similarly characterized in his portrayal by
Anthony Peeples, whose recurrent displays of emotion prompted hearty laughter from
the audience and later served to heighten their frustration when Claudio, having been
deceived, declared Hero “more intemperate in [her] blood / Than Venus or those pampered
animals / That rage in savage sensuality”. While the inflated lovesickness expressed
by Hero and Claudio initially characterized them as comic figures, their infatuated
sighs also emphasized their youth and sincerity, making the plot to separate them
appear especially nefarious as a result.

The musical performances incorporated into the production created appropriate atmospheres
for certain scenes and engaged the audience in their emotional contents. Balthasar’s
song, performed by Adam King and made humorous by the singing of Leah Keelan and Sarah
Newby Halicks as Margaret and Ursula, provided an apt preface for the tricking of
Benedick. The manner in which this song was performed reflected the ambivalent implications
of its lyrics. King sang the first lines of the song clearly and directly, suggesting
truth in its claim that “
Men were deceivers ever” with regards to revealed and forthcoming events in the plot. However, the entrance
of Margaret and Ursula into the song undermined its initially serious tone and prepared
the audience for the comical scene in which Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato convince
the eavesdropping Benedick that Beatrice “
loves him with an enraged affection.” The mixture of comic and serious elements in the performance of Balthasar’s song
mirrored the mixture of benign and malicious applications of deception encountered
throughout the play.

Reactions from the enthusiastic audience emphasized changes and developments in the
characters, and indicated particularly humorous or significant events. The noise level
inside the theater rose considerably during the first bout of verbal sparring between
Beatrice and Benedick, as their rapid exchange of insults was accompanied by increasing
audience laughter. The unusual silence of the audience when Beatrice revealed that
Benedick “lent [his heart to] me a while…he won it of me with false dice” aided in
the portrayal of Beatrice as an honest and multifaceted character. Such moments of
silence from the audience, which were most prominent when Beatrice exchanged her usual
wit for emotional expression, revealed the viewers’ interpretation of Beatrice and
Benedick’s union via deception. The reactions of the audience to Beatrice suggested
that they perceived her sarcasm as a façade behind which she concealed true fondness
for Benedick. They understood Beatrice’s claim that she loves Benedick “with so much
of my heart that none is left to protest” as an outward expression of long-held feelings
rather than the outcome of recent trickery. The audience’s applause and cheers for
the declarations of love exchanged between Beatrice and Benedick confirmed their acceptance
of this positive interpretation.

The application of familiar vocal cadences to the text ensured that none of the comedic
or emotional content of the play was obscured through antiquated language. Leah Keelan
delivered Margaret’s innuendo-laden interchange with Benedick in a suggestive tone,
guaranteeing that audiences would grasp the sexual implication in her command to “Give
us the swords. We have bucklers of our own”. While the production depended on such
exaggerated delivery to make the comedy of the play accessible to the audience, this
inflated style also allowed for the serious moments of anger and emotional truth to
stand out in contrast. In its intent to convey positive and negative outcomes of deception
with humor and honesty, this production of Much Ado About Nothing benefited from its lack of subtlety.